ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 TAG: 9612040054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: A Cuppa Joe
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY
Trooper Gary Chafin's dedication shone brightly Sunday at 4:52 p.m.
He was gliding off the northbound ramp of Exit 146 from Interstate 81, within yards of the restrooms at Hale's Exxon, when a dispatcher radioed news of a wreck at the 135.5 mile point on the southbound side.
Chafin didn't hesitate: He swung his Caprice Classic left and rolled over to the southbound lane, more responsive to duty than to nature.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the most heavily traveled day of the year on Virginia interstate highways, and none has a greater reputation for congestion than our very own I-81.
Home-going families, migrating snowbirds and returning college students raise its vehicle volume far above its daily average of 50,000, and tricky weather often complicates its flow.
Some years, there has been ice. This year, ominous skies and intermittent rain made for dark moods and a dismal feel for tens of thousands of motorists.
Fender benders and rear-enders kept Virginia troopers hopping along the 14-odd miles of the interstate in Roanoke County. They'd never say so, but at times they must have felt like the guy with the shovel who walks behind the elephants in the circus - less than delighted with the duty, but grateful that the messes were relatively small.
The college crunch
The 10 1/2-mile trip to that particular accident took Chafin, riding the right shoulder at 40 mph beside two lanes of gridlock, 14 minutes. It felt fast. More typical speedometer readings were 24, 8 and 0, on a 65 mph road where, under normal circumstances, many cruise at 75 mph or faster.
When he arrived, Chafin found the left lane blocked by a fire truck, two ambulances, another trooper's car and two crimped passenger cars. Seeing no major injuries, the other trooper led the cars down to the Dixie Caverns exit, where they parked on a side road so he could make his report.
State police and local officers strain to find ways of easing this annual hassle, but without success. Twice in recent years they have asked administrators at Virginia Tech and Radford University to extend the Thanksgiving break by one day, to reduce the Sunday crush.
The schools declined, citing academic calendars set years in advance, the difficulties of rescheduling afternoon labs and the requirement for a certain number of class days to retain accreditation.
Last year, Tech opened its dorms on Saturday. This year, the dorms opened Friday for kids attending the football game with the University of Virginia. Many returned early, but others waited as long as possible. Wouldn't you?
Larry Hincker, a Tech spokesman, said postponing classes by another day would just throw thousands of cars into Monday's traffic, and barely make a dent in Sunday's load.
Last year, Tech issued campus parking permits to 10,519 of its 24,812 students. Sixty-two percent of those enrolled come from Northern Virginia, Richmond and Tidewater, making I-81 their most-traveled road.
Some 2,700 of Radford University's 3,200 campus-dwelling students have parking permits. A high percentage of the remaining 5,000 probably drive as well, said spokeswoman Deborah Brown. They, too, come heavily from points north.
So, unless the administrations change their minds, we're stuck with the congestion.
We're all in it together
The consolation is that no one is immune.
Driving northbound on I-81 as he took his son back to UVa, Hincker saw a 14-mile backup in the southbound lane in Rockbridge County. When he was returning along I-81, he saw backups starting the closer he got to Roanoke. Hincker decided to avoid the mess and took U.S. 11 south at Hollins.
And Laura Bullock, the upbeat spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation in Salem, jumped onto U.S. 11 in Salem to avoid the accordion-like traffic on a trip between Botetourt and Blacksburg.
It made sense. Looking in his rear-view mirror, Chafin described the creeping cars as "going to the next millennium."
What's your story? Call me at 981-3256 or send e-mail to kenn@2roanoke.infi.net. Or write to me at P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010-2491.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB